Nonjatta

The official website is here. http://www.quercusb...

2012-05-27T16:22:04.858-07:00

The official website is here.

http://www.quercusbar.com/index.html

How about the label "very rare old Suntory Wh...

2012-05-27T14:20:24.498-07:00

How about the label "very rare old Suntory Whiskey" My mother in law was Japanese.

I was hooked on " coal fire and campfire ash&...

2012-05-25T03:31:40.372-07:00

I was hooked on " coal fire and campfire ash" Brian :) I never let a score cloud a decision, but your score is interesting to know and can be influential. That said, yes, the tasting notes you put up is once again mouthwatering, enough said. Cannot wait.

I'm not suggesting you'd disagree Clint bu...

2012-05-24T12:54:23.907-07:00

I'm not suggesting you'd disagree Clint but I think if people like the sound of the tasting notes they should buy it no matter what the score.

Cannot wait to get my bottle. I'm really looki...

2012-05-24T07:58:49.639-07:00

Cannot wait to get my bottle. I'm really looking forward to it as well as your score Brian.

Well, they come from the same stock, of course... ...

2012-05-21T06:52:37.561-07:00

Well, they come from the same stock, of course... because the stock is incredibly small. In fact, the stock maturing at Eigashima is so small that they are very reluctant to actually let people see the warehouse. They just don't have loads of 12-year old casks to "choose" from. There are, however, batch variations that - together with the cask strength - make these bottlings very interesting, in my opinion. As far as the price is concerned: it's a private bottling and therefore not generally for sale, but you will find that the price charged for a set is, in fact, less than what you would pay if you were to buy a standard 5- and 12-yo.

I've always been suspicious that these are fro...

2012-05-21T03:22:46.195-07:00

I've always been suspicious that these are from the same type of stock used for the standard 5 and 12 year olds but bottled at cask strength and being sold at twice the price. The colour is identical and as the regular 12 seems to have a level of peating it would take a lot for me to be convinced otherwise. Nice labels though.

As for the 14YO, if readers find it hard to come by there will be a second release in November.

Just to nitpick: the "chibi" in "ch...

2012-05-19T23:20:02.408-07:00

Just to nitpick: the "chibi" in "chibidaru" does not mean "cute" (as Tim F wrote in his TWE blog entry). It is simply a slang word meaning "small" (which is why I prefer to translate it as "wee"). It has cute connotations, but it does not mean "cute".

I had the same feeling when I tried it earlier thi...

2012-05-19T23:15:14.585-07:00

I had the same feeling when I tried it earlier this month, and it confirmed my suspicion that we've got to be careful with these "multi-vintages": it seems to me that their very raison-d'etre is that the constituent casks were of inferior quality. I know that with some creative re-casking / finishing and vatting, it is sometimes possible to creative something that's more than the sum of its parts, but it's not something that's easily accomplished as these two releases show. As far as I'm concerned, when I see a multi-vintage Karuizawa and when it's cheaply priced (as these ones were), alarms bells start ringing.

That is: "tasted it"... Damn iPhone :-)

2012-05-19T20:52:23.261-07:00

That is: "tasted it"... Damn iPhone :-)

Good to read your review. Confirms my impressions ...

2012-05-19T20:51:35.146-07:00

Good to read your review. Confirms my impressions when I tastes it at TIBS.

Look forward to it Clint. The best bottles of whis...

2012-05-19T19:04:55.180-07:00

Look forward to it Clint. The best bottles of whisky I have develop in the positive over the bottle life.

I think it is going to be available elsewhere, tho...

2012-05-18T23:45:12.571-07:00

I think it is going to be available elsewhere, though I don`t know where.

Hi Chris, Does that mean it will only be available...

2012-05-18T21:48:21.764-07:00

Hi Chris,
Does that mean it will only be available at the Asahi shop, or is there going to be a general retail release as well?

I couldn't agree more with the Werthers Origin...

2012-05-18T08:06:55.018-07:00

I couldn't agree more with the Werthers Originals. Further give it a week, or even two, on top of the time it has been since you opened it and many more sweet sensations will present them self ( well it did for me anyway).

After being open a couple of weeks the nose leads ...

2012-05-18T02:42:33.653-07:00

After being open a couple of weeks the nose leads with a cross between Werthers Originals and Butter Menthols.

Craft beer, with the emphasis on real ale or cask ...

2012-05-17T15:14:13.140-07:00

Craft beer, with the emphasis on real ale or cask conditioned ale, is certainly what has occurred in the U.K. for the last few years. It's enabled the rise of the small and micro brewery as independent businesses and although is not a dominant part, it is the one area of growth in an otherwise stagnant market. With Japanese drinking seemingly requiring a sweeter product I'm guessing the big market players will still create neutral yellow fizzy stuff but with a spin - much the same as soft drinks manufacturers added vanilla or citrus? It will be interesting to see how it all pans out. In the meantime I better buy a copy of your book to get some further insights on Japanese drinking culture!

For what it is worth, I think it is quite likely, ...

2012-05-16T21:23:23.729-07:00

For what it is worth, I think it is quite likely, given the extreme faddishness of Japan`s booze market, that the increase in the second graph will level off and then start to fall away. That is what has happened with most previous "booms". Then what? The fashion that is bubbling under here in Tokyo is craft beer, but that will be difficult for the big brewers who control distribution to harness. But an almost necessary result of their journey into cheap fizzy imitation beer, as I said in my book, is an eventual move toward proper beers that can differentiate themselves from the yellow fizzy stuff. Craft beer may not be able to grasp a significant market, but we might see some differentiated mass beers. Mass marketed fruit beers?

Great analysis on a drinking trend that looks like...

2012-05-16T18:21:06.745-07:00

Great analysis on a drinking trend that looks like it's set to continue expanding. So much different on how Japanese Whisky is actually viewed back here in the U.K.

Likewise Stefan - if your down this way please do ...

2012-05-07T21:21:53.931-07:00

Likewise Stefan - if your down this way please do let me know. It would be good one day for all of us to catch up, especially when Brian is in town and Chris has some time. All the best with your entries, look forward to many more.

Thanks Clint! I love your blog, too. It was invalu...

2012-05-06T21:40:28.897-07:00

Thanks Clint! I love your blog, too. It was invaluable during my (not so frequent) visits to Kansai. All the best - if you're ever in Tokyo drop me a line, we must meet!

Actually nothing much has changed. I just bought t...

2012-05-06T20:00:11.433-07:00

Actually nothing much has changed. I just bought the 2 new Japanese release 11/12YO Karuizawas for about GBP60 each, so cheap by UK/European standards but perfectly in line with previous pricing for Karuizawa in Japan.

Thanks, I had already searched for the Karuizawa 1...

2012-05-06T19:37:32.480-07:00

Thanks, I had already searched for the Karuizawa 1999 cask #867 to check out the prices outside Japan. I also noticed that LMDW had it for sale for a more 'reasonable' EURO118 while available. Did the thewhiskybarrel just snap up some from LMDW knowing they'd sell out fast leaving no option but to then buy off them at an inflated price?

I've only ever had 2 Karuizawa from Number 1 Drinks the '71 and a '92. All the rest have been distillery bottled/labelled, plus 3previous Whiksymag bottles for Japan.
Also for other readers who may for the most part think of Karuizawa as single cask whiskys the distillery bottled and sold a number of non vintage non single cask OB's over the years in Japan from 8,10,12,15 and 17 year olds to a very rare 21YO I have only seen once(have a photo though). 12YO standard OB's alone have come in at least 4 permutations that I know of(not just the bottle shape is different but so is the tasting profile). There are others as well but I digress.

I bought the bottle/s from Hasegawa last October. They had the 1999 and a 1998 in both 700ml and 250ml bottles. I think there may have been a another different year in the 250ml bottle as well. I bought the 1999 in both sizes(used the 250ml for the review) and a 250ml of the 1998. At the time they had a few bottles of each year and size. Pricing for the these were pretty much in line with single cask Ichiro's Malts of the same age, Y7-8000.
The Whiskymag bottlings for Oxfam were sold last year in Japan for about Y9000 for the 13YO and Y11000for the 19YO. This was always the type of pricing for Karuizawa in Japan, which again was roughly in line with single casks bottling from the other distilleries. I had never seen a single cask Japanese release Karuizawa of any age('81 was the earliest of these bottlings released there) for more than Y20000/GBP155 up until about a year ago.
As I have mentioned before the cult of Karuizawa is a UK/European phenomenon. Pricing in Japan was always reasonable. Now on auction sites in Japan some Japanese have caught on and have upped the price to near European levels. These bottles just sit there for ages hoping that a investor from outside Japan with Karuizawa fever will pay that kind of money, cuz from what I've seen(and I follow this daily) the Japanese won't touch them at that price.

Fantastic stuff Stefan. What a great read. Look fo...

2012-05-06T18:11:57.836-07:00

Fantastic stuff Stefan. What a great read. Look forward to more posts.

Thanks for your kind words. Regarding the Karuizaw...

2012-05-06T16:20:06.271-07:00

Thanks for your kind words.
Regarding the Karuizawa cask #867. That's really interesting. Here's the UK link:
http://www.thewhiskybarrel.com/pr/1246/karuizawa-12-year-old-sherry-cask-867
When did you buy it from Liquors Hasegawa, and do they still have some in stock? I haven't seen any Karuizawa in their Tokyo station shop for years, so very curious to hear how you managed to get hold of that as such a low price. I just checked your review and the label is clearly different. The bottle you have is an OB. As I wrote before, Karuizawa distillery used to bottle small batches (a couple of cases) of selected casks for sale in their distillery shop (and some Japanese liquor shops), so I think the bottle you have is one from the days before No. 1 Drinks bought the entire stock. Interesting difference in price though, don't you think so?